Treasure ballot measure sides prepare to draft pro, con statements

UPDATE: Brian Van Hecke, Niels Vernegaard and Arnie Rusten on Tuesday withdrew their names from consideration for drafting the statements.

One supporter of the City Hall ballot measure that would raise the funding needed for the acquisition of Treasure in a conservation deal and one opponent of the measure added their names to the list of people interested in drafting statements that will be included in official election materials.

The Summit County Clerk's Office said Brian Van Hecke, a leader in the opposition to the Treasure development proposal, indicated he wants to write the statement in favor of the ballot measure. Stephen Streamer submitted his name as a candidate to draft the statement in opposition.

By late on Tuesday morning, six people had contacted the office wanting to write the statement in favor of the ballot measure while two had done so asking to write the opposing statement. The people who are interested in writing the statement favoring the ballot measure are: Van Hecke, Niels Vernegaard, Cindy Matsumoto, Rory Murphy, Arnie Rusten and John Stafsholt. Streamer and Jeff Weissman by late on Tuesday morning were vying to draft the statement in opposition.

The deadline is 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Van Hecke is a leader in the Treasure Hill Impact Neighborhood Coalition and is one of the primary figures in the opposition to the Treasure development proposal. He and other opponents of the development proposal have long pressed issues like the traffic Treasure would be expected to generate on streets like Lowell Avenue and Empire Avenue and the overall size of the project.

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Streamer in a guest editorial printed in The Park Record in February criticized City Hall's $64 million agreement to acquire Treasure as "a bad deal" for Park City. He argued in the guest editorial the agreement prioritizes the resort industry. That industry and related sectors should finance a Treasure deal, he argued.

Summit County Clerk Kent Jones said he planned to select the people to draft the two statements as early as Tuesday evening.